Luke Ressler

The Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site near Cooperstown was one of many missile sites in ND that served a pivotal part of the United States’ strategy of nuclear deterrence during the Cold War years.  The confrontation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) put our military on continuous alert.  The U.S. Air Force started deploying solid-fuel Minuteman missiles near bases in Montana, Missouri, Wyoming, and the Dakotas in the 1960s. Directly on the front lines of the Cold War, the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site preserves and interprets the story of the Minuteman missile system as well as the people working in and living around the missile sites. Constructed as part of the Grand Forks Air Force Base’s 321 Missile Wing, the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility (MAF) and the November-33 Launch Facility (LF) were completed in 1965, with Minuteman II missiles installed shortly after completion. The Cooperstown site is still open for tours year round.